A sleep disorder is typically classified as a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. In some cases sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Sleep disorders may include dysomnias, insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, hypersomnia and parasomnias.
Insomnia i.e., sleeplessness is a common medical condition generally caused by over stimulation of the mind and/or body. Factors such as stress, poor dietary habits, lack of physical activity, pain, environmental factors and psychological factors are major causes of insomnia. The inability to sleep, poor-quality of sleep, and night waking can be a significant problem, sleep is necessary for both survival and good health. Sleep disorders can also lead to problems during the day for example, fatigue, difficulty in thinking clearly and/or staying focused, and feeling depressed and/or irritable.
How long a person sleeps and how rested a person feels on waking can be influenced by many factors, including excitement, physical exertion, and emotional distress as well as medications, food elements, and food additives.
When sleep disorders interfere with a person's normal activities, the intermittent use of sleep medications may be useful. Modern sleeping drugs are generally available as over-the-counter medications and are one of the more commonly used drugs on the market. However, many of the currently available sleeping pills, particularly hypnotics and sedatives should not be taken over extended periods of time. Continued long-term use may cause a person to build up a tolerance to the drug, and in addition may worsen the original sleep disorder, facilitate addiction, and cause withdrawal symptoms on discontinuing use. In addition, common side effects of currently available sleep medications may include inhibition of the muscle coordination system, central nervous system, and general functional abilities such as shuffling walk; tremor, inability to still or irregular heartbeat.
Sleep is vital to a healthy lifestyle. There exists a need to provide compositions for and methods of treating insomnia or sleeplessness that have fewer side effects.
Further, there is a need for compositions comprising natural, plant-based ingredients, that are generally non-addictive, have limited side-effects, and are not known to cause physiological withdrawal symptoms when use is discontinued.